


fade away together one dream at a time

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: my tiny ass fandom fest [6]
Category: Santa Clarita Diet (TV)
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, BAMF Women, Character Study, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eric is so soft and gay for abby, F/M, Family, Gender Roles, In a totally straight way tho, Low-Key Murder, POV Eric, i think I've realized a pattern in my straights OTPs, soft boys falling in love with badass women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-01 12:04:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18334271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: "You okay?" Abby asks, and he looks over at her.Eric is very, very self-aware of the fact that he’s the Disney Princess in his own life story and Abby is the Disney Prince- he’s the smart, gentle person who constantly needs his ass saved from undead people, while Abby is a badass hero who is the one to save his ass over and over again. From today with the belt to other times with various bullies and shit, Abby is the hero and he's the best friend (or love interest, maybe, but Eric's steadfastly not thinking about that right now)."Why would you ask that?" he asks, casually. Casual- yeah, that's a good decision. He can do that."You did nearly just get kidnapped by an undead woman who was going to break your legs and turn you into her slave," Abby says, "And I'm guessing that probably fucked with you a bit."She's got a point. She usually does.(A reflection on Eric after the whole Ramona-nearly-kidnapped-him thing.)





	fade away together one dream at a time

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Where Did The Party Go" by Fall Out Boy.
> 
> I love my stupidly cute and heart-warming murder family.
> 
> Fics so far in the fandom at the time of writing: 31

_We do not have to become heroes overnight._

_Just a step at a time,_

_meeting each thing that comes up,_

_seeing it as not as dreadful as it appears,_

_discovering that we have the strength to stare it down._

**-Eleanor Roosevelt**

 

Ramona's hand is on the back of Eric's neck, and her voice is sweet but he can't focus on that because of what she's telling him.

Eric is going to die. Or, well, die and then become undead, and be stuck with Ramona his entire life, and have to eat humans as food forever...or she’s just going to break his legs, thus crippling him forever, and he’ll still be stuck as her slave.

He’s never going to get to see the Hammonds or his mom again, never going to get to hang out with Abby or play Settlers of Catan or get into MIT. No- he's going to be Ramona's slave for the rest of his life and he has no way out.

He swallows, trying not to appear as terrified as he is- which is a  _lot_ , probably more than he's ever been, even when Abby and him planted that flash bang grenade for Dan. Because though Dan would have killed him, that whole thing would have ended just with Eric's death- this, right now, is an eternity without the people or things he loves.

Then Ramona says that they’re going to go the Hammonds’ for dinner before they leave for Seattle, and he has a possible way out. Eric's lungs expand just a little- not back to normal, but just a little less anxious. He has a way to remain human, and keep hanging out and helping the Hammonds, and not get turned into a slave forever. Hopefully.

Eric really hopes he’s not completely fucked for the rest of his life, because that would be bad.

-

Then they get to the Hammonds' and, just like always, the family kicks ass and saves his life. They talk some shit, say some weird things that are both endearing and terrifying at the same time, and then Abby has out a belt and is fucking strangling Ramona.

They don't end up killing Ramona, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that the Hammonds are here, protecting him as one of their own. Eric feels like he belongs, and he's so incredibly happy that he's going to be able to live his not-so-normal life with them and not as a slave to an undead woman in Seattle.

-

After the whole mess is over, when Ramona leaves the house and Joel ends up checking Eric very briefly for any major wounds or bites, Eric ends up spending the night at the Hammonds’, sleeping on the cleaned-off couch. Abby’s nice enough to watch a movie he wants to, and he's nice enough not to go with Lord of the Rings because he knows that she has less than no interest in the series. So instead, he chooses  _Clue_ , a murder-comedy movie from 1985 that, despite the murder, has always been rather comforting for him.

"You okay?" Abby ends up asking around the time that the cook is murdered, and he looks over at her.

Eric is very, very self-aware of the fact that he’s the Disney Princess in his own life story and Abby is the Disney Prince- he’s the smart, gentle person who constantly needs his ass saved from undead people, while Abby is a badass hero who is the one to save his ass over and over again. From today with the belt to other times with various bullies and shit, Abby is the hero and he's the best friend (or love interest, maybe, but Eric's steadfastly not thinking about that right now). 

"Why would you ask that?" he asks, casually. Casual- yeah, that's a good decision. He can do that.

"You did nearly just get kidnapped by an undead woman who was going to break your legs and turn you into her slave," Abby says, "And I'm guessing that probably fucked with you a bit."

She's got a point. She usually does.

"Uh," he starts- always a good place to start. "Well, you guys fixed it, like you always do, and I'm okay now. And Ramona's gone. So...I'm good. Yeah, I'm good."

Abby raises an eyebrow, looking almost uncannily like Miss Scarlet. ""You're good?" That's what you're going with?"

Eric shrugs. "I thought it worked."

She looks at him, eyes narrowed in question, but she nods and accepts his answer, turning her head slightly to watch as Mr. Boddy dies for the second time (and this time, the real time). He watches as she laughs at Mr. Green and Wadsworth's antics, and he can't help but smile too.

God, he loves this friendship and this family. He's so happy right now, and owes so much of it to Abby and her parents. The Hammonds saved him from Ramona, who wanted to make him her slave, and Dan, who was emotionally and verbally abusive. They're his heroes- they've saved his life so many times.

Who the fuck cares if they're killers, if Sheila has to eat people to survive, if Abby just strangled his ex-girlfriend? Because Eric fucking loves his mother, but the Hammonds are his family just as much as she is. He loves them for who and what they are. They're his, and he's theirs.

"You know," Eric says, "I really like you and your family. And I'm really happy that you saved my ass."

Abby grins. "That's kinda what we do."

"And I'm so glad," Eric says.

Ramona had something right, in her terrifying statements about him being her Joel.

Eric's a supportive and grounding person for Abby. He's gentle and soft and yeah, he's probably never going to be able to kill anyone or really stand up for himself, but that's not what Abby needs in a friend (or even a boyfriend). Abby needs someone who can support her, just like Joel does for Sheila.

And Eric can do that. He's  _good_ at that. And he'd like that, to be honest. He knows that Abby would never force him to do anything, not like Ramona did. She's never going to threaten him or hurt him.

She's just going to continue protecting and supporting him, and he's going to continue helping and supporting her. They've got a pretty good, reciprocal relationship going on here, and wherever it ends up going- or not going, for that matter- he'll be happy about it. Because they're good for each other, and they'll be here for each other.

The driver gets murdered by a leather-gloved hand on-screen, and Eric leans his head on Abby's shoulder. He likes it here, with her, with her family, is this house that's housing bodies and living head in the basement and a broken vase on the ground but also a shitton of love and support that Eric has never really gotten before.

"Please tell me that Miss Scarlett is the murderer," Abby says into Eric's hair, and he grins.

"There are multiple endings," he says, "And she might be the murderer in one of them."

" _Awesome_ ," she says, and he can hear the grin in her voice. And he kinda loves it.

So Eric curls into Abby's side and she puts an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in just a little closer. He really likes it here, and he hopes that he's gonna get to stay here, loving this family, supporting this girl, doing whatever he can to help, for a very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys all enjoyed this! I absolutely love this series- I think it's one of the funniest I've seen in a long time- and so I wanted to write a fic to show my love for it. If you liked it, please leave kudos and comments! Comments are a writer's lifeblood and they're really appreciated. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as well.


End file.
